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Martin could lose seat over fraud probe

DAVID MARTIN, the vice-president of the European parliament, may be deselected as a Labour MEP if an investigation into expense irregularities threatens to mar the party’s European election campaign.

Senior Labour officials have given Martin five weeks to clear his name, otherwise he is likely to be removed from the list of approved candidates.

The European parliament is investigating 30 pages of bank statements and other documents passed to the Labour party last week. It follows an allegation made by Martin’s brother-in-law, Billy Cook, that he improperly claimed allowances worth an estimated £150,000.

It is believed the allegations centre on allowances for an office assistant whose salary was already being paid directly by the European parliament.

With the European election scheduled for June, Labour is keen to have the issue resolved quickly.

The situation has been further complicated following a threat by the SNP to make a formal complaint to